Peter Frampton went inside Chiado’s Brasileira for his second cup of coffee of the day. As Frampton Industries CEO, he had had to travel to Lisbon to take care of some issues involving the Portuguese branch office. It wasn’t his first time. He simply loved the country, so he always took any excuse to travel there personally. Were it any other country and he would have sent one of his executives, but the truth was that Peter was sort of bewitched by this original, somewhat morose, yet extremely warm people and their beautiful country. He couldn’t quite explain. No doubt Lisbon was absolutely charming. Then again, so were Paris or Rome. And yet seldom would he go there, whereas to Portugal he made a point of coming every year. He didn’t really know why. What he did know was that wasn’t the only one. Several friends of him, who had come to Portugal, had ended up regular visitors. Some sort of enchantment seemed to keep them coming back.
One of the reasons why he always came personally was to get himself a new stash of port wine. Portuguese wines were amongst the best in the world, but port wine was unique. Years ago, when he had had his first sip of the precious nectar, he was immediately seduced by a taste that was - how to put it? – almost divine. From then on he wouldn’t go without a glass of port after his meals. Of course that, on his trips to Lisbon, he made sure he bought several cases of the best vintage wines.
When he went inside the café, he immediately noticed a man sitting on a corner. Looking gloomy and clearly drunk he mumbled unintelligible words and smoked like a chimney. Used as he was to judge his fellow man at a simple glance, Peter realized right away that this wasn’t your common lush. As Peter had entered the café the man had raised his head with difficulty and for a moment his piercing eyes had met Peter’s. His stare was hypnotic, intoxicating, and it bothered Peter deeply. The man’s lifeless pitch black eyes whispered words of appeal into Peter’s, flecked here and there of what seemed to be an ancestral pride. Out of the blue, and with a swift rear of his head, the bizarre character raised his cup as if toasting and at the same time beckoned Peter to sit at his table. Unable to think clearly, Peter joined him and sat mechanically. All of a sudden, the whole universe was reduced to that table, to himself, awe struck and tongue tied, and to this offbeat drunk sitting and sneering in front of him.
And then he spoke. His voice deep and hollow as in B-picture supernatural scene.
‘Dear sir, I am in a most wretched situation. However – Pardon me, but you are not Portuguese, are you?’ Peter shook his head. ‘I figured as much. But apparently you do understand Portuguese, don’t you?’ Still unable to speak, Peter nodded a so-so. ‘Well, better to continue in English, don’t you think?’ The millionaire complied with a nod.
‘First of all let me introduce myself: nice to meet you, I’m Júlio Quental’ the inventor said in a pretty good English and extending his hand.
‘Frampton. Peter Frampton, nice to meet you too.’
‘What? Frampton industries Peter Frampton?’
‘Well, I’m sure not music Peter Frampton.’
‘In that case the gods are with me. It would’ve been harder to find a better man to present my invention to. Let’s cut to the chase: about six months ago I finished the blueprint of a machine that may change society. I made sure I took out the patent for it on the double. But now I haven’t got the money to build the prototype. This invention can get me, a broke man, a whole lotta money, and you too, if you take up my challenge, of course. I know, I know I look like it, but I’m not crazy.’
For the first time Peter noticed the odd features of the stranger: he was thirty-something, sported army boots, black jeans and a T-shirt of the same color, and, despite being summer, had on a grey Colombo-like raincoat, only greasier and filthier than the one of the legendary detective. He was not bald, but had his head carefully clean-shaven. His crooked nose made him look a bit like a bird of prey. And he spoke endlessly as if afraid that, if he stopped talking, Peter stood up and made for the door.
‘No, sir, I can assure you I am not crazy. You know, this machine can put an end to all of the smokers’ qualms of conscience for good. You see, the biggest problem for a smoker, other than the harm they bring to themselves, obviously, is the harm and nuisance they bring to people around them. I myself, although totally hooked, avoid lighting up a cigarette in places I know I might disturb others, even if smoking is allowed there. It’s a shame not everybody bothers to act the same. It’s a matter of habit, I think. Besides, most smoke inhibiting laws, of which the US are champions, are based on the so-called «second-hand smokers»’ rights. And you, being an American, are more aware of that than I am. Well, my machine would end up this sort of problems. And why would that be, you ask? Because, with this invention, which I have called «Smoking Machine», whenever a person smokes a cigarette, even in a closed room, they will be not polluting the air but making it purer and fresher. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? And yet it’s really simple. Here, I always carry a copy of the blueprint, let me show you.’ And, theatrically, the bizarre character took out a bunch of paper sheets stapled together from a chafed black soft leather briefcase and passed it to Peter. The sheets of paper were yellow and worn out, some appeared to have been thumbed through over and over again. Here and there you could see a couple of coffee stains and cigarette burns.
On the first page Peter saw for the first time the sketch of the machine. It looked like one of those metallic cigar cases. It was cylindrical and about 6 in long and 40 mm diameter. The next pages showed several detailed drawings of the machine, as well as technical features. The millionaire was amazed. It was an utterly simple idea. The proverbial Egg of Colombus.

English to Portuguese: The five keys to success in language learningGeneral field: MarketingDetailed field: IT (Information Technology)

Source text - English 1) Spend the time! By far the most important factor is how much time you are immersed in the language. The more time you spend with the language, the faster you will learn. This means you with the language, listening, reading, writing, speaking, and studying words and phrases.
This does not mean sitting in class looking out the window, nor listening to other students who do not speak well, nor getting explanations in your own language about how the language works.This means spending time enjoyably connected to the language you are learning.

2) Listen and read every day! Listen wherever you are on your MP3 player. Read what you are you listening to. Listen to and read things that you like, things that you can mostly understand, or even partly understand. If you keep listening and reading you will get used to the language. One hour of listening or reading is more effective than many
hours of class time.

3) Focus on words and phrases! Build up your vocabulary, you'll need lots. Start to notice words and how they come together as phrases. Learn these words and phrases through your listening and reading. Read
online, using online dictionaries, and make your own vocabulary lists for review. Soon you will run into your new words and phrases elsewhere. Gradually you will be able to use them. Do not worry about how accurately you speak until you have accumulated a lot of words through listening and reading.

4) Take responsibility for your own learning! If you do not want to learn the language, you won't. If you do want to learn the language, take control. Choose content of interest, that you want to listen to and read. Seek out the words and phrases that you need to understand
your listening and reading. Do not wait for someone else to show you the language, nor to tell you what to do. Discover the language by yourself, like a child growing up. Talk when you feel like it. Write when you feel like it. A teacher cannot teach you to become fluent, but you can learn to become fluent if you want to.

5) Relax and enjoy yourself! Do not worry about what you cannot remember, or cannot yet understand, or cannot yet say. It does not matter. You are learning and improving. The language will gradually become clearer in your brain, but this will happen on a schedule that you cannot control. So sit back and enjoy. Just make sure you spend enough time with the language. That is the greatest guarantee of
success.